shoo

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃuː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: shoe, SHU

Etymology 1

From Middle English schew, schowe, show, showe, scou (“shoo!”, interjection). Compare Middle High German schū, schuo (“shoo!”, interjection) (modern German scheu! (“shoo!”)), Dutch schuwen (“to shun”), German scheuchen (“to scare, drive away”).

Verb

shoo (third-person singular simple present shoos, present participle shooing, simple past and past participle shooed)

1. (transitive, informal) To induce someone or something to leave.

   Don't just shoo away mosquitoes, kill them!

   See if you can shoo off the insurance salesmen.

2. (intransitive, informal) To leave under inducement.

   You kids had better shoo before your parents get a call.

3. (informal, rare) To usher someone.

   Shoo the visitor in.

Derived terms

• shoo away
• shoofly pie
• shoo-fly plant
• shoo-in
• shoo off

Translations

to induce someone to leave

• Bulgarian: изпъждам (bg) (izpǎždam), прогонвам (bg) (progonvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 閃／闪 (zh) (shǎn), 滾開／滚开 (zh) (gǔnkāi)

• Finnish: hätistää (fi), hätistellä (fi), ajaa tiehensä, häätää (fi)
• French: zou (fr)
• Galician: botar (gl), axotar (gl), espaxotar, escorrentar (gl), espantar (gl)
• German: scheuchen (de), verscheuchen (de)
• Greek: διώχνω (el) (dióchno)
• Hungarian: elhesseget (hu)
• Japanese: 叱する (しっする, shissuru)
• Korean: 쉬이하다 (swiihada)
• Maori: whakahie
• Polish: pogonić (pl)
• Portuguese: enxotar (pt)
• Russian: прогоня́ть (ru) impf (progonjátʹ), прогна́ть (ru) pf (prognátʹ), шуга́ть (ru) impf (šugátʹ), шугану́ть (ru) pf (šuganútʹ) (colloquial)
• Spanish: ahuyentar (es), correr (es), amontar (es), zalear (es)
• Swedish: sjasa (sv), sjasa bort, sjasa iväg
• Turkish: kaçırmak (tr), kışkışlamak (tr), kovmak (tr), kovalamak (tr)

to leave under inducement

• Finnish: häipyä (fi)
• Galician: liscar
• Spanish: amontar(se)

usher — see usher

Interjection

shoo!

1. (informal, demeaning) Go away! Clear off!

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:go away

Translations

go away

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 閃／闪 (zh) (shǎn), 滾啦／滚啦

• Czech: kšá (cs)
• Esperanto: tju
• Finnish: häivy (fi), hus (fi)
• French: pschtt, ouste (fr), zou (fr)
• Galician: isca (gl), lisca, gache, xo (gl), cache
• German: husch! (de), weg (de)
• Greek: ουστ (el) (oust), ξουτ (el) (xout), δίνε του (el) (díne tou)
• Hungarian: hess (hu), sicc (hu), mars (hu)
• Irish: hois
• Italian: sciò!, pussa via!, vattene!
• Japanese: シーッシー (shīsshī), シッシ (shisshi), 叱 (ja) (しっ, shi')
• Korean: 쉬이 (ko) (swii)
• Lithuanian: štiš!
• Macedonian: мрш (mrš), иш (iš)
• Malay: siuh (ms), syiuh, syuh (ms)
• Norwegian: trekk unna
• Polish: sio (pl), a kysz (pl), afe (pl)
• Portuguese: xô (pt)
• Russian: кыш! (ru) (kyš!), брысь! (ru) (brysʹ!), кшш! (kšš!), пшёл! (pšol!)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ши̏ц, и̏ш

  Roman: šȉc (sh) (to cats), ȉš (sh)

• Swedish: sjas (sv), schas (sv)
• Tatar: перс (pers), көш-көш (köş-köş)
• Turkish: kış! (tr), kışt! (tr), kışak!
• Ukrainian: киш! (kyš!)

Etymology 2

From Middle English scho, sheo, scheo, sȝheo, from Old English hēo (“she”). More at she.

Pronoun

shoo

1. (Yorkshire) Alternative form of she
   • 1847, Emily Brontë, chapter II, in Wuthering Heights‎^[1], New York: Harper Brothers, published 1855, →OCLC, page 15:

     Hearken, hearken, shoo’s cursing on em!” muttered Joseph, towards whom I had been steering.

See also

• honk-shoo

Anagrams

• Hoos, SOHO, soho, SoHo, Soho, oh-so, oh so, oohs

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

shoo

1. Alternative form of scho (“shoe”)

Etymology 2

Verb

shoo

1. Alternative form of schon (“to shoe”)

Navajo

Interjection

shoo

1. I see; oh yes, I see

Derived terms

• áníłʼį́ shoo
• geʼ shoo

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from English show.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

shoo (n class, plural shoo)

1. show (performance)

Swedish

Interjection

shoo

1. (slang) Alternative form of sho (“hi”)

References

• Slangopedia

Yola

Alternative forms

• shea, shu

Etymology

From Middle English scho, sche, from Old English hēo, hīo, from Proto-West Germanic *hiju.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃuː/, /ʃiː/

Proper noun

shoo

1. she
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 63:

     Quo shoo.

     Says she.

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 14, page 90:

     Jaane got leigheen; shoo pleast aam all, fowe?

     Joan set them a laughing, she pleased them all, how?

   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 14, page 90:

     Shoo ya aam zim to doone, as w' be doone nowe;

     She gave them some to do, as we are doing now;

   • 1867, “SONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 108:

     Shoo zent him o' die.

     She sent him one day.

   • 1867, “SONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6, page 108:

     Shoo zent him anoor die a gozleen to keep;

     She sent him another day the goslings to keep;

Derived terms

• shea's

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 67